In Greek mythology, Pallas (/ˈpæləs/; Ancient Greek: Πάλλας) was an Arcadian prince and the eponymous founder of the Arcadian town of Pallantion.[1] He was the teacher of Athena,[2] who, according to local myths, was born in Aliphera.[3]
Pallas | |
---|---|
Eponymous King of Pallantion | |
Member of the Arcadian Royal Family | |
Abode | Arcadia |
Parents | Lycaon and Cyllene or Nonacris |
Offspring | Chryse |
Pallas was one of the 50 sons of the impious King Lycaon[4] either by the naiad Cyllene,[5] Nonacris[6] or by unknown woman. He had a daughter, Chryse who married Dardanus and brought the Palladium to Troy.[7]
Stone statues of Pallas and his grandson Evander[8] were extant in Pallantium in Pausanias' times.[9] Roman authors used Pallas' name to provide an etiology for the name of the hill Palatium.[8]
Pallas and his siblings were the most nefarious and carefree of all people. To test them, Zeus visited them in the form of a peasant. These brothers mixed the entrails of a child into the god's meal, whereupon the enraged king of the gods threw the meal over the table. Pallas was killed, along with his brothers and their father, by a lightning bolt of the god.[4]